Next week, Ivanovic will be showcasing her talents half a mile up the road in the more familiar setting of the Edgbaston Priory Club. The Serb is top seed at the curtain raiser for the grass court season, the Aegon Classic, where she will be attempting to bounce back from a disappointing third round loss to Lucie Safarova at the French Open.

That result was a rare blip in what has been an otherwise excellent 2014, which has already brought Ivanovic two WTA tournament victories and a number of deep runs elsewhere. On her last visit to Birmingham, in 2011, Ivanovic reached the semifinals, and, after a first round bye, she will begin this time around against either Mona Barthel or Ajla Tomljanovic.

Should she reach the last four again - no certainty given the unpredictable nature of grass court tennis - Ivanovic is due to meet No.3 seed Sloane Stephens, who is joined in the top half by among others Klara Koukalova and former champion Magdalena Rybarikova.